


Year of the Cat

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Prison, Reunions, Unresolved Romantic Tension, gay old adachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 22:11:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5718922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adachi shuffles from side to side, his sense of gravity off balance now that there are no shackles on his feet. Nothing stopping him from running away, taking those final strides after strides after strides to be anywhere but here. </p><p>Something keeps him firmly in place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Year of the Cat

**Author's Note:**

> this will not go into the gravesite of my many unfinished fics because thankfully it's already done. just needs some editing. so enjoy!

Like clockwork, Adachi stiffens at every taxi and freezes until it passes. Breath is held in subconsciously, as if a guard is going to apprehend him at a moment's notice. Once the taxi fades into the sea of cars he exhales discreetly and shakily. Starts nervously fixes his perma-mussed up hair and smooths a rough hand over a wrinkled shirt for the ninth time this hour. Hates himself for caring how he looks. No amount of accessories or primping would change the fine lines near his eyes, or his disheveled appearance, the obvious fact that he does not belong here. Everyone can smell it.

Dojima eyes him as well. Brief glances in between exhales of smoke. If Dojima feels awkward he makes no show of it. It almost helps. Nanako punctuates silence with endless chatter about what Soujis been up to. University, cat cafes, studying abroad, big things… typical. Adachi tries to listen finds his attention weaving with the _whoosh_ of every passing car. _Like a homesick dog_ , he bitterly thinks.

It’s been twenty minutes and Nanako sheepishly asks if she can get a snack. Dojima hands over some money and tells Nanako she can go to the vending machine right around the corner if she likes. Much too thoughtful for her age, instead of running to spend it all she turns to Adachi and asks if he’d like anything. He declines. Doesn’t mention that he can’t imagine eating right now, all he sees it it coming back up. Specifically, spilling all over his shoes.

Dojima rubs at his eyes once his daughter is out of earshot, “Ah, Nanako shouldn’t have been the one to ask if you were hungry. Sorry about that.”

“S’nothing.”

The older detective, looking significantly older but also much more content, nods and closes his eyes and smirks to himself. Neither of them had been prone to talking things out. Rehashing and talking so personally about things wasn’t Dojima’s style then and it isn’t now. It isn’t Adachi's either. He’s _almost_ comfortable in the silence, mostly glad there isn’t any tension or anger or malevolence like he had initially feared. He doesn’t need or want to fill these moments with empty talk. Dojima gets that.

As they stand a while longer, Dojima checks his watch periodically after the past few taxis aren’t Souji.

“We’re early is all.” Dojima reassures.

Adachi didn’t realize he looked so obviously and pathetically preoccupied. He’s getting rusty- being so transparent like this. He thinks about honing that skill again; retreating back into self inflicted misery. Cold, aloof- _alone_ . A nagging voice that sounds suspiciously like Souji tells him he’s better off absently digging through his pockets and playing with a wad of lint to play off being nervous. “ _What’s so bad about feeling something_?” the voice asks. Back then, Adachi would have had a quick retort and a wealth of angst to wallow in to avoid these nagging questions. Today, being the man he is now, Adachi can’t be bothered to think of a reason why he would ever want to run away again.

Content with her snacks laid out neatly on a nearby bench, Dojima steps a short distance away and pats his shirt pocket to remove a packet of cigarettes. The oddest things come to mind. Adachi remembers three cigarettes smoked down to the butt would be Dojima’s stopping point once his patience was worn completely thin, less so if he was waiting on Adachi. Dojima casually lights one and exhales cooly. Adachi’s nostrils flare at the acrid scent, he’d hadn’t thought much about smoking while in prison but the smell drums up an oddly nostalgic guilt in the pit of his gut.

“Want a cig?” Dojima offers a single cigarette amicably.

Adachi shakes his head and laughs softly. He’s not a smoker. “Not like I can say no, huh?” to which Dojima laughs as he hands one over.

Staring at the offered cigarette like a foreign object, Adachi knows he's been lost in thought for too much for his own good. This has been the case since the moment he stepped out of prison as a free man. No one waited at the gates. He didn't expect or want anyone to wait. Time went on and people moved on.  And even upon his release, he’d needed to time to assimilate and ingratiate himself into society as a human being. Meeting with his court appointed mentor- a heavyset man well into his sixties who had all kinds of wisdom and advice you didn’t ask to hear-  helped, but conversations often felt as if Adachi was on the outside looking in. Watching a horribly boring movie about a man who didn’t seem to belong anywhere, and who both fondly and begrudgingly remembered one of the few places he did belong as somewhere he could never go back to. He’d bloodied his home with his own hands.

Stopping just short of lighting the cigarette, Adachi is snapped out of his stupor by Dojima offering his lighter.

“You might need this.” Dojima offers a kind smile, not a punch to the head.

Knowing full well that Dojima is far from a bleeding heart, prone to anger and preferring his fists to communicate rather than his words; moments of peace between Adachi and his former superior are welcome reminders that he’s not completely out of place. Someone, somewhere will look for him in a crowd and will be glad to meet his eyes. It’s not hard to believe anymore.

“Thank you!”

 _Souji_.

It’s Souji. This time it's Souji. He’s sure. A few feet away from him he sees gray hair peeking up from a taxi car and it looks like Souji shoves money at the driver, is denied, but persists anyway.

And then he steps out.

Souji does nothing but smile warmly and coolly lean back on the taxi door after he closes it with the full weight of his body. Seeing Adachi's face, agape and obvious with _something_ ( _Yearning? Regret? Fear? It's not something Souji can place just yet.)_   almost ignites a sense of smug self satisfaction in Souji. Instead he's relieved. Brimming with absolute delight, he smiles and begins to walk towards Adachi, taking strides as big as his smile.

Adachi puts the lighter and the unlit cigarette away. He knows he looks like a damn fool but what's the use in hiding it now? Dojima stands back, preferring to let them have their moment. They both look like fools, he thinks. Adachi doesn’t want to bear witness to this moment, because he’s happy to be in it. 

Adachi walks with his hand extended lamely. A kiss seems too forward. _Does Souji want to touch him at all? Maybe he should put his hand away. Would it be better to simply walk up to him and then stop to assess the situation?_ He’s so nervous that his feet are almost matching Souji's near jog and they crash, with Adachi’s arm extended for a handshake and Souji holding his arms out. They collide into a messy embrace that quickly turns into an impulsive and poorly planned kiss. Adachi’s teeth clack against Souji and he makes a whistling “ _mmgh_ ” sound that sounds like it was forced out of him. The force of the sudden hug and kiss makes Adachi sway backwards but Souji leans back and steadies them as the kiss deepens briefly.

When they break the kiss, all they can do is stare at one another. Soujis still has those bangs, only they’re side swept. He looks clean and neat and like someone who avoids needless trouble, but the way souji is beaming at him and the way souji was with him before. Adachi knows that's not true.

 Almost giggly, Souji keeps his hands around Adachi’s shoulders and laughs breathlessly. Adachi laughs too, at nothing in particular. It's a nice moment is all. _What took his breath away? The kiss? Getting nearly crushed by Souji’s excitement?_ No need to think about it too much. Souji’s still eyeing him from under his bangs, sizing him up, can feel Souji making a checklist of the way Adachi has changed to file away for later.

The moment has drawn on way too long but there's that pull again. Neither of them were very good at letting go. They both bring that out in one another.

Dojima has been standing back all this time and finally Souji looks up and sees him as Nanako approaches. Dojima is turned to her and Nanako rushes forward, mimicking the happiness Souji displayed earlier as he embraced Adachi.

“Big bro!”

Adachi pulls away first, lets his hands fall to his sides. Checks the cigarette and lighter in his pocket. Souji pulls away without a fight but keeps glancing back at Adachi, Nanako approaches with Dojima following closely behind. Souji bends his knees to hug Nanako better and nuzzles his chin into her hair.

Nanako stuffs a Hello Kitty snack cake into his hands. “For you!”

“Thank you Nanako, you know me so well.” Souji palms it, holding it like a baby bird. He puts it into his pocket and Nanako beams, looking at Souji and Adachi both.

Dojima clears his throat. “Done with the reunions?”

Souji smiles warmly, ear to ear. Adachi’s knuckles feel like they’re burning every time they accidentally brush the back of Souji’s hand. He coughs to regain some composure but instead chokes a little bit.

“Adachi, I brought you some stickers! No bugs.”

Adachi frowns at her thoughtfulness, it's still as foreign to him as it was before. Smiles after a beat. He knows souji caught it, grimaces. _Poor girl_ is all he can think, though she’s much stronger than she looks. The last time he had seen Nanako she was laying in a hospital bed, gray and still. Her breathing was so faint and frail that he couldn’t hear it over the beeping and buzzing of the many machines she had been hooked up to. He used to sit in her room and contemplate everything. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Voices. Souji’s, Dojima’s, Nanako’s, his parents’, his old boss’, coworkers’, his own voice. ( _A_ _woman's voice_?) Which in turn made him avoid visiting if he could help it. There’s only so many doses of reality a man over the edge can take. That year, in that place, Adachi chose to run away.

Now, Adachi sees people run _to_ him. And he stays in one place so they can find him. No need to push. This is new. It’s awkward and strange, but not bad. Their trust is misplaced and wasted on him .  _It’s not bad_ , he tells himself.

They decided on their own to believe in him. That’s not an accusation anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you episode adachi for not making the way i write adachi too OOC


End file.
